In August of the fourth year of Chuping (193 AD), Cao Cao waved 50,000 troops, bringing Gao Shun, Zhao Yun, Xiahoudun, Xiahou Yuan, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Zhang Liao and other generals to the west. Perhaps because of the butterfly effect brought about by Gao Shun's crossing, Cao Cao raised his troops to welcome the Son of Heaven three years earlier than in the original history.

Zhang Liao was captured by Xu Chu, and at first swore that he would not surrender to Cao. Cao Cao originally wanted to behead him, but then gave up because of Gao Shun's hard persuasion, and followed his advice to treat Zhang Liao very well, not only did not treat him as a prisoner, but set up a banquet every few days to give him money, and treated him quite favorably. Zhang Liao felt Cao Cao's kindness, and remembered Lu Bu's meanness to his subordinates, and finally decided to surrender after thinking about it again. However, Zhang Liao agreed with Cao Cao before surrendering that if he fought with Lü Bu in the future, he would not contribute. Cao Cao sighed at his loyalty and allowed it.

At the beginning, Cao Cao worshiped Zhang Liao as the Zhonglang general, and Gao Shun said to him: "Zhang Liao's martial arts are extraordinary, but in addition to Wu Yong, he is also a general. ”

Cao Cao responded: "I heard that Zhang Liao is under Lu Bu's account, and he is only appointed as a cavalry captain. When he first entered my account, if he was awarded the position of general without making an inch, the general of our army would inevitably be dissatisfied. If he really has talents, when he will make meritorious contributions in the future, why bother about his reputation? When Gao Shun heard this, he didn't mention it more, anyway, he knew Zhang Liao's talent very well, and it was inevitable that he would be crowned a marquis on a different day.

On Cao Ming's side, she had a lot of complaints about Cao Cao's trip with Gao Shun, and what she hoped was that Gao Shun could marry Guo Cui as soon as possible, and then marry herself back as soon as possible. After all, Gao Shun proposed marriage to Guo Cui first, and if he wanted to marry Gao Fu, he could only choose an auspicious day after Gao Shun and Guo Cui got married. But his brother Cao Cao now asked him to go on the expedition together, and the pacification of the rebellion of Li and Guo cannot be a matter of moments, once the time lasts, won't he have to wait for a long time before he can get married? If the war had lasted for a year and a half, he would have been over twenty years old when he got married. Although the unmarried girl at the age of twenty will certainly not be unique in the entire Han Dynasty, it is also rare in the world.

However, this time Cao Ming blamed Cao Cao again, in Cao Cao's original plan, he didn't plan to bring Gao Shun this time, but his father Cao Song suggested that Gao Shun should go with the army. As the saying goes, Yun Zhizi Mo Ruo's father, this sentence is also true in reverse, and Cao Cao is very clear about what his father has in mind. It would be nothing if Gao Shun was not his son-in-law, but now that he had decided to marry Cao Ming to him, then Cao Song hoped that Gao Shun would make more contributions and strive to obtain a higher general position before the two got married, so as to be worthy of his daughter.

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At this time, Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty had retreated to the original eastern capital, Luoyang, under the escort of Yang Feng and Dong Cheng. It's just that Luoyang City has been scorched by Dong Zhuo's fire, the city walls are all ruined, and they have few soldiers, if Li and Guo attack the city, it will be hopeless to defend the city.

Liu Xie will panic from time to time in his heart, his current behavior can be regarded as a complete break with Li Dao and Guo Yan, if he is caught by them, I am afraid that he will not even be able to enjoy the treatment of a puppet. Will they just slaughter themselves and usurp the throne? Once this kind of thought spreads in his heart, he can no longer stop, poor Liu Xie, as a dignified emperor, can only spend every day in fear and panic, for fear that one day Li Dao and Guo Yan will suddenly break in and cut off their heads.

"It's coming! Here it comes! With an excited smile on his face, a young eunuch entered the hall and shouted happily to Liu Xie.

"Coming? Who's coming? Could it be that Li Dao's group of thieves have already broken through the city and killed them!? At present, Liu Xie has already become a frightened bird, and when he heard the eunuch's words, he was immediately shocked, and said tremblingly.

"Your Majesty, it's not the thieves like Li and Guo who are here, it's General Cao. Yanzhou Mu Cao Cao and Cao Mengde have already led his elite soldiers to Luoyang Qinwang. Seeing Liu Xie's frightened expression, the eunuch hurriedly explained.

"Cao, Cao Cao...... Good, good! Cao Mengde is worthy of being a loyal man of my Han Dynasty! When Liu Xie heard that it was not the rebel rebels who came, but Cao Cao's Qinwang's army, he immediately turned his sorrow into joy, and said to the eunuch with a smile, "Wait for me to welcome the general and wash the dust for him!" ”

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"Minister, Yanzhou Mu, Zhendong General Cao Cao, knock to see Your Majesty." When Cao Cao saw Liu Xie, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and said respectfully in his mouth.

"General Cao, please get up quickly, the world is in turmoil, and the gang is often lost, only General Cao still has a loyal heart and raises troops to rebel, which is very comforting." Seeing Cao Cao, Liu Xie immediately became extremely excited when he thought that he might never have to live this kind of suffering from now on, "When General Cao defeats Li and Guo's rebels, I will award you as a general!" ”

"The ministers are afraid, in terms of morality and ability, the ministers are far from lacking, and they will never dare to steal such a high position." Cao Cao lowered his head, and a trace of essence flashed in his eyes that others could not notice at all, but he still maintained a very respectful tone and said to Emperor Han.

"General Cao is too modest, although he is big today, there are only a handful of loyal and upright people who care about the Han family." Liu Xie said sincerely, "When I heard that the Dong thieves destroyed Luoyang and ran to Chang'an, all the princes refused to move, but General Cao led his troops and horses to pursue. Now that Li and Guo are in turmoil, and General Cao is the king of Qinqin in danger, who can rely on General Cao? ”

Cao Cao's eyes were more shining, but at the same time, his head hung lower: "There are still a lot of loyal and righteous people in the world, like in the past, when I was fighting Dong, I was not the only one who led the army to pursue, and now Xuzhou Mu Liu Bei (Tao Qian has passed away, Liu Bei was Xuzhou Mu before he died), Changsha Taishou Sun Jian sent troops to help. The position of the general, not the name, morality, and talent of the three can not be appointed, the fourth of the Yuan family, the third duke, Yuan Benchu and quite talented, can be this important task. ”

Cao Cao's words were very level, he was not alone when he pursued Dong Zhuo in the past, but where are Liu Bei and Sun Jian at this moment, and he is the only one who rushed to raise the army in the end, isn't he. As for the "position of a general, a person who has both name, virtue and talent cannot be appointed", he is even more ridiculous and generous, thinking that he is just a butcher, even he can sit in the position of a general, how can I Cao Mengde not sit down?

Of course, Liu Xie didn't pay attention to the deep meaning of Cao Cao's words, in his opinion, he just felt that Cao Cao was modest.